Breathe – Journal Prompts
Fill Your Cup – take a breath before jumping into another busy week.
A Few Moments to Take Care of Yourself
You can take just 10 – 30 minutes on these prompts to write, draw or paint each week. Read through the journal prompts and let them get you started; respond to what strikes you and leave the rest. Or simply take the journal topic and go in your own direction – this is about what YOU need.
For this week let’s look at our own self care and the notion of ‘taking a breath’.
Breathing is life. Are you breathing freely?
- List – 10 words or concepts you associate with “breathe.”
- Does focusing on your breath help you sit with feelings of anger or fear? When do you most need to “just breathe?” Is pausing and focusing on your breath a waste of time?
- Who are you waiting on to give you permission to breathe? How can you give yourself that permission?
- Breathing has a rhythm – inhale, taking in, and exhale, pushing out. Do your days have a breath to them? Does your week have a breathing rhythm? How can you add some gentle rhythm to your day?
- When your children were babies did you wake at night to look for their breath? Perhaps you do that now. What would you tell that mother in the dark listening for breathing?
Will you join us in taking a breath and regrouping on the weekends? To receive each new prompt in your email you can sign up here. If you are already a CWK newsletter member you’ll need to enter your email and then it will ask you to update your profile information so that you can add yourself to the journal group.
The CWK community and I would love to hear about your take on this journal prompt – feel free to share with us as much as you are comfortable in the comments.
PS – don’t miss it this next intro class! June 26th 1pm and 9pm EDT
64 Positive Things to Say to Kids
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I really like the prompt around rhythm. I would like to compare the rhythm of breath to other rhythms we experience and observe. This was inspiring. (Pun intended.)
This was the first journaling I did in quite a while. I sat outside under my birch tree while I did it. I haven’t taken much time to just sit outside and breathe, and appreciate the nature around me although living in the outskirts of a city makes it a little tricky. I felt so calm and peaceful when I was done, and I even wrote a poem!
Sounds wonderful – you’re inspiring me to go sit outside and journal too 🙂
Thanks
I’ve had to get very intentional with my breathing because I have severe asthma, and working with someone on learning intentional breathing and meditation has helped me to be calm and purposeful with my breathing. When life’s storms come, it’s much easier to handle when you breathe purposefully and evenly. That’s always a good thing to remember!
Agreed! I’ve been surprised by how powerful it is for me to notice my breathing and be more intentional about it. I have a tendency to believe I need something much “more” than just breathing to be calm, but truly if I focus on my breath it works wonders.
I am so excited about this series, and I love the first prompt!
[email protected] A Day, I have a hard time remembering to breathe too. I love the idea of counting breath I will give that a try the next time I am fuming over something. I also find using a mantra such “I breathe in peace, I breathe out love” helpful.
Awesome mantra Lorien. I also love the Compassionate Response method from Kim Payne author of Simplicity Parenting – which focuses on loving your child for their true self. When I first learned it, I used it a lot… but have gotten out of the pattern. So many great techniques out there, it seems when I make an effort to remember them, they do wonders.
I love that mantra too, and I too see so many great techniques…I feel like I learn in a spiral, coming back to tools I’ve forgotten or laid down. Finding them again later sometimes feels like perfect timing and sometimes feels like, “Duh! Why did I forget this?!”
I’m looking forward to this series. And I love the first prompt.
Breathing is something I often forget to do. I read recently that actually COUNTING breath will help keep your mind on your breath and relax, versus still fuming over whatever it was. I found this idea really useful, because when I breathe I usually keep thinking, so maybe it’s not as effective. Now to reflect on your other questions…
I have started walking in the evening so my breathing is nice deep ones to get me up the hill, thoroughly enjoyed tonights walk, a mixture of blackberry picking and power walking while the sun set. 🙂